The Township of 91原创 will appeal a that halted work on the controversial Coulter Berry building.
Council approved the court challenge at a closed-door meeting Monday night (Nov. 4).
While the Chilliwack judge who ruled in favour of the and against the Township on Oct. 25 is not expected to release his reasons for another four months, the Township cannot wait for the reasons to file an appeal, Mayor Jack Froese said Tuesday.
That's because of court rules that say a challenge must be filed within 30 days of a decision.
"[Filing now] starts the wheels in motion for an appeal," Froese said.
Froese said the appeal was filed as a "protective measure" to reserve the Township's right to challenge the ruling and it could be withdrawn once the reasons have been released and reviewed.
Froese said he understands it is "fairly common" to file appeals before reasons have been released, noting Metro Vancouver recently did the same when it challenged a decision about the 91原创 university district lands.
A director of the Fort 91原创 Residents for Sustainable Development said the move by the municipality comes as no surprise.
"We fully expected from the get-go that they (the Township) wouldn't take this lying down," said Harold Whittell.
"Our hope, obviously, is that the judge's ruling stands as given."
Whittell expected the shutdown of construction work at the Coulter Berry site will continue during the appeal process.
"That's what we've been led to believe," Whittell said.
In the Coulter Berry case, Justice Joel Groves set aside the heritage alteration permit issued by the Township that allowed construction of the three-store Coulter Berry building, saying it 鈥巌mproperly varied the density restrictions in downtown Fort 91原创.
The judge did not clarify the ruling any further, saying he would provide written reasons early in the new year.
Work on the building began in late summer.
It was the subject of a lengthy public hearing before council approved it, and has faced continued opposition from a group of Fort 91原创 residents and the 91原创 Heritage Association.
- with files from Frank Bucholtz
